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Friday, January 04, 2013

Former Prince George’s County, Maryland, Correctional Officer Pleads Guilty to Obstruction of Justice

Anthony McIntosh, a former correctional officer at the Prince George’s
County Detention Center, in Upper Marlboro, Md., today pleaded guilty to
obstruction of justice for providing false information about the
circumstances surrounding the in-custody death of Ronnie White on June
29, 2008.
White, at the time of his death, was being detained on charges
related to the death two days earlier of a Prince George’s County police
officer.

McIntosh, 49, of Brooklyn, N.Y., pleaded guilty to a violation of 18
U.S.C. § 1519 for providing false information in a witness statement he
submitted to a police detective investigating White’s in-custody death.
McIntosh admitted during his guilty plea that when he wrote his
witness statement, he omitted material information that was truthful,
and included information that he knew was false.
Specifically, McIntosh claimed in the false witness statement
that another officer had discovered White unresponsive in his
single-occupant cell and had then summoned McIntosh to the cell.
During the guilty plea, McIntosh admitted that, in actuality,
he had been the first correctional officer to find White unresponsive in
the cell, and had failed to call a medical emergency signal as required
by the Department of Corrections.
McIntosh also admitted that he included in his statement the
false claims that he never moved Ronnie White and that he “didn’t know
what was going on” when his partner told him that White appeared to be
unresponsive.

“Instead of lawfully carrying out his critical public safety
responsibilities, Mr. McIntosh used his position to obstruct the search
for the truth,” said Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights
Division Thomas E. Perez. “The Justice Department will continue to
vigorously prosecute officers who cross the line and engage in criminal
misconduct.”

McIntosh faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Sentencing is set for April 8, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr.

The case was investigated by the Baltimore Division of the FBI and was
prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Forrest Christian and Trial
Attorney Ali Ahmad of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of
Justice, with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the
District of Maryland.